In order to advance human rights one needs to approach courts to clarify what the content of the rights are for a group of people. When the international and regional human rights norms are internalised through implementation into a domestic system, you have fertile ground for public interest litigation. The suggested conclusion is that there has been a gradual evolution in terms of the development of a body of law on human rights, moving from the international to the regional system. The article focuses on the practice of public interest litigation in South Africa as it discusses questions of access to justice, clinical legal education, and legal aid to the population. As an illustration of strategies in a public litigation, the author analyses the suit brought against the government by an action campaign for the treatment of Aids.